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Threat of lawsuit meant to intimidate A-C officials

Athens-Clarke Mayor Doc Eldridge and several commissioners have cited the threat of a lawsuit as reason enough not to explain the tensions between the commission and the county manager.

When some of our commissioners seem reluctant to speak out even on issues of real importance, to see them clam up at the hint of a lawsuit suggests less discretion than lack of courage.

Sadly our legal system has become a means of intimidation rather than a quest for rough justice. Legitimate lawyers, judges, and legislators have stood by and watched the system become corrupted by goldbrickers and opportunists. Civil lawsuits have become a game of ''chicken'' played with time and money, and as for criminal law, does anyone doubt that the rich man is in a much better position if charged with a serious crime?

Those who accept such abuses of the system deserve to become its victims.